My First Raw and Organic Food Haul at iHerb

March 16, 2014

My obsession with healthy eating and going raw hasn’t just stop even though now I’m back to a flexitarian diet where I would go vegetarian on most days while incorporating raw vegan meals into my diet.

Most of the raw meals are prepared at home and it can be quite challenging as not many of the raw ‘version’ of ingredients are readily available in our local supermarkets. So another alternative is to purchase raw food ingredients online where in some instance, it might cost cheaper than purchasing raw and organic food from the health food stores in Singapore.

And one of the popular online health food and supplements store is iHerb. I was a little hesitant to purchase items online as I wasn’t sure whether the food purchased online is safe for consumption. What if it was some fake organic products? What if it is expired? There were numerous similar type of questions that emerge from my head and just couldn’t trust online health stores until I read a few other trustable online reviews. Some of the raw foodists here got their supply of raw food from iHerb too so I thought, ‘Okay, why not? Maybe it’s time.’

So I headed over to iHerb.com and basically found a whole bunch of raw and organic ingredients which I’ve been searching high and low for at our local marts. You can imagine that smile of delight I had on my face when I know that I was able to purchase what I’ve always wanted at iHerb, at a slightly cheaper price too.

Everything quoted online was in USD and after you convert them into Singapore dollars, most of the items either cost about the same or lesser than the ones sold here.

Go Raw, Organic Spirulina Energy Bars, 10 Bars, 14 g Each

Initially, I imagined this energy bar to be the size of a regular muesli bar so I was a little disappointed to realize that the energy isn’t really a ‘bar’ but a ‘strip’ of raw food ingredients.

It didn’t look very appetizing because it’s all dark green and dried but it actually tastes not too bad. The taste of the organic banana in it is quite distinctive. These are actually handmade energy bars by Freeland Foods. All the content has been dried under 40 degree celsius and all seeds have been sprouted to release enzymes which are beneficial for the body.

For me, this works great as a in-between-meals snack but it doesn’t keep you feeling full or satisfied.

If you haven’t tasted this Mayan superfood, I seriously urge you to try it! It’s dubbed as the healthier version of chocolate chips and boy, it tasted naturally delicious! You will as if you are munching on dark chocolate chips except that it has a slight liquor aftertaste. These cacao sweet nibs are made by rolling crumbled cacao beans in raw cacao liquor and then sweetened up with pure cane juice. They are great to use in smoothies, muesli bars and raw desserts.

Cacao contain micronutrients like magnesium, iron and antioxidants. According to some research, cacao act as a mood booster to lift up your mood because it contains alkaloids theobromine, phenylethylamine and anandamine that makes you feel like you’re falling in love.

Previously I was using Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder to make chocolate smoothies but I read that there isn’t much antioxidants or nutrients found in roasted cocoa powder as compared to raw chocolate powder.

Can’t wait to make a fully raw chocolate shake with avocados!

Artisana, Cacao Bliss, Raw Chocolate Coconut Butter, 8 oz (227 g)

Some of the iHerb shoppers were raving about this chocolate coconut butter so I had to try it for myself! It’s yummy but I wouldn’t say it’s fantastic unless you’re a fan of coconut and chocolate. It’s simply just coconut butter mixed with raw cocoa which I guessed that it could easily be made on your own.

Coconut Secret, Raw Coconut Flour, 1 lb (454 g)

I bought this can of raw coconut flour thinking that I could make coconut pancakes with it. I’ve yet to try using it but apparently it’s one of the best-selling raw products at iHerb.

Simply Organic, Cayenne, 2.89 oz (82 g)

Cayenne is a great metabolic booster and it tasted quite good with lemon juice, together they make a great weight-loss drink for dieters. I couldn’t find it at NTUCs so I just had to get it online. It could be added to almost anything to give it that spicy kick.

I have yet to try it with hot cocoa.

Nutiva, Organic Hemp Seeds, Raw Shelled, 8 oz (227 g)

Besides soy and nuts, hemp seeds is another source of protein for vegans. Do you know that 3 tablespoons of hemp seeds contain 11 grams of protein? Hemp seeds are great for making protein shakes and energy bars.

Nutiva, Organic Chia Seed, 12 oz (340 g)

Ch-ch-ch…chia!

Chia seeds is another superfood which is really expensive as compared to the other superfoods that I’ve bought during the haul. It’s high in dietary fibre and omega-3 fatty acids and it puffs up when soaked in water. One of the popular raw dishes that uses chia seeds is Chia pudding which is basically just chia seeds soaked in milk or water.

Now Foods, Raw Sunflower Seeds, Unsalted, 16 oz (454 g)

These raw kernels doesn’t differ much in terms of taste from the roasted ones. I bought little ‘sunnies’ to give me a boost of tryptophan and vitamin E to make skin glow. I would sprinkle them in my salads and smoothies.

Yogi Tea, Lemon Ginger, Caffeine Free, 16 Tea Bags, 1.27 oz (36 g)

Yogi Tea is the second most popular tea brand at iHerb, after St.Dalfour. I wanted to try the highly-rated St.Dalfour’s Golden Mango green tea but the stocks ran out pretty fast. So I settled for Yogi Tea, an organic tea brand inspired by Yogi Bhajan’s teachings on Ayurveda and healthy living. The Lemon ginger tea was not too bad but average.It’s comparable to store-bought ginger teas here in Singapore.

I’ve been contemplating about getting those meal replacement drink supplements or protein shakes. But recently, I chanced upon this raw and organic meal replacement powder at iHerb and I thought, ‘why not get this instead?’

All the product descriptions on the label made this product sound amazingly good but I’m pretty sure it’s not in its purest or most natural form. But I thought that this would work great for me especially when I do not have the time to prepare a healthy meal for myself.

To make a meal replacement drink, you will need about 2 scoops of the raw meal powder and mix it up with water or juice. It didn’t taste really pleasant when I first tried it with water. I guess I should have bought the flavoured ones! But the drink itself was really dense, fibrous and very ‘green’. It has a distinct taste of vegetables. To offset the taste, I would add a spoonful of cocoa powder into it. There’s no way that I could drink this meal replacement drink on its own!

Healthy Origins, Organic Spirulina, 500 mg, 30 Tablets

While browsing through iHerb website, I discovered a few shopping saving tips and deals which you should check out especially if you are new to iHerb!

There’s this product catalogue on trial pricing where some of the products are sold at a discounted, single-unit price.This trial pricing, however, is only limited to one customer. To tap on this savings, I decided to purchase the organic Spirulina supplements for only $2.09! I thought it was a super good deal at first until the product arrived and to my dismay, it was a tiny-sized bottle that is no bigger than the size of my fist. But, it’s still a deal, right? I just needed those comforting words.

iHerb also offer freebies to their customers regardless of how much you spent at iHerb! They are basically product samples which are mainly beauty products. I ran out of facial masks at home so I got the nu-pore collagen essence masks which are made in Korea. It was quite good actually as my skin felt firmer after using one mask.

The shipping tax (to Singapore via Singpost) was $4.00 and in total, I spent about $119 for all these super raw and organic wholesome goodies!Before making your first purchase at iHerb, be sure to use theiHerb Discount Code. Each new iHerb customer is actually given a iHerb discount code where they could share with their friends and families to that they could enjoy the same savings. When the discount code is used, the customers also get to enjoy more savings and discounts through the points reward system.

Since it was my first purchase at iHerb, I also had my own iHerb discount code. Use this code RBS682 or click hereto get $10 off your first purchase at iHerb!